BY: WENN.COM FEB 25, 2014 | 9:15AM EST
British singer Sir Cliff Richard is adamant he will not risk upsetting Morrissey by eating meat during their joint concert, insisting: "It was a joke." The Devil Woman hitmaker made headlines around the world when details of his unlikely support slot playing second on the bill to the former The Smiths frontman emerged earlier this month (Feb14). He will perform for one hour before Morrissey's set in New York in June (14), but rumours suggested he had put the show in jeopardy by announcing plans to "eat a chicken curry afterwards". However, the veteran pop star is now adamant the remark was made in jest and he has no intention of upsetting the staunch vegetarian. Richard tells Time Out with Phillip Silverstone on TuneIn Radio, "I made a joke of it. I said, 'Well I might have a chicken curry after the show', and of course it's very hard to find a chicken curry in New York, so it was really a joke. And they put in things like, 'I expect when we meet that he would eat meat with me'. I don't expect him to - the man is a genuine (person), he believes what he believes and I respect that. "So it's slight frustration really, and even though I've learned to live with it, it still doesn't mean I don't get upset when it happens, and I still can't figure out why they would want to create a wedge between Morrissey and me when we have never even met."